Dial
Dial names 4 different subjects across the 6 encyclopedias on this shelf. Each is set out below.
Dial The graduated face of a time piece
American Watchmaker and Jeweler (1892)
The graduated face of a time piece. Dials were first enameled by Paul Viet, of Blois, in 1635. The greater majority of American dials are what are known as enamel dials, which consist of a copper plate for a base and an enameled face. The process of making these dials, as carried on in our factories, is as follows: The copper is shaped and holes punched in one operation. The feet are then brazed on, after which the enamel is applied to both the back and face, after which it is fired. After smoothing they are again fired, and, if perfect, they are sent to the painter. For many years after most of the other work in our factories was done by machinery; the painting of dials was hand work. The Waltham Company, after experimenting for a number of years, finally brought to perfection a process, by means of which the dials are lettered, and the numerals, minute and second marks are printed by photography. Various processes are used in other factories, among them being the transfer process, which is effected by rubbing the enamel paint into a steel plate into which the lettering of the dial is countersunk, taking an impression from this plate upon a rubber platen and then transferring this impression to the dial. After painting, the dials are again fired. Dials of gold, silver and other metals are extensively used, particularly in the Spanish-American countries. To Drill an Enamel Dial. Select a piece of soft copper wire of the diameter you wish the hole, file off the end perfectly flat and hammer into the copper a small quantity of fine diamond powder. This form of drill will be found to perforate the enamel of a dial quite rapidly. Broaches made in the same manner give excellent results. These tools can be used either by revolving in the fingers or in the lathe. Emery countersinks will be found very useful for trimming the edges of holes in enamel dials. To Remove a Name From Dial. Apply a little fine diamantine to the end of your forefinger, and gently rub the name until it disappears. The finish can be restored by polishing the place carefully with a small quantity of diamantine mixed with oil, and applied by means of a small piece of cork. An agate burnisher is also used for the same purpose.
Dial an instrument for showing the time of day by the sun's shadow
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
an instrument for showing the time of day by the sun's shadow. It is evident that the dial having a gnomon which makes with the horizontal plane equal the latitude of the an angle the Asiatics place is the invention of Dials are of-various construction, according to the presentation of the plane of the dial. A dial in telegraphy is an insulated, stationary wheel having alternating conducting and non-conducting portions, against which the point of a spring key is in frictional contact.
Dial NATHANIEL BARKSDALE, a United States Senator from South Carolina
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
NATHANIEL BARKSDALE, a United States Senator from South Carolina, born in Laurens co., S. C., in 1862. He was educated at Richmond College, Vanderbilt University, and the law department of the University of Virginia. He began the practice of law in 1883, and also engaged in business, becoming an officer and director in many important industrial and financial institutions. He was defeated as a candidate for the Senate in 1912, but was elected November, 1918, for the term ending 1925.
Dial . See Sundial
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
. See Sundial
What Has Changed in the Last Century
When the American Watchmaker and Jeweler set out enamel-dial making in 1892, the dial was the readable face of a mechanical movement, and its numerals were still being fired on by hand, photography or transfer plate. Since the Seiko Astron of December 1969 opened the quartz era, most timekeeping has moved to quartz, then to digital and phone screens, so a painted enamel dial is now a mark of luxury or restoration rather than ordinary manufacture; the diamond-powder drill and diamantine tricks described here survive mainly in specialist watch-repair benches. The sundial that Collier's described in 1921 as an instrument for telling the time is now essentially ornamental, and its telegraph-dial sense is wholly obsolete. Nathaniel Barksdale Dial, listed in 1921 as serving to 1925, lost his seat and did not return to the Senate.
Written for this edition, 2026.